Cambodia is home to 24 different indigenous peoples, who speak mostly Mon-Khmer or Austronesian languages, and constitute 3% of the national population with an estimated 250,000 to 400,000 individuals. The Indigenous territories include the forested plateaus and highlands of North-eastern Cambodia, approximately 25% of the national territory.
While not disaggregated in the national census, other data confirms that Cambodian Indigenous Peoples continue to face discrimination and coerced displacement from their lands that are extinguishing them as distinct groups. These patterns are driven by ongoing state and transnational corporate ventures for resource extraction/conversion (mainly timber, minerals, hydro and agribusiness), coupled with growing in-migration from other parts of the country.
Political framework for Indigenous Peoples
Cambodia voted in 2007 to adopt the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples without reservation, and has ratified the CERD, CEDAW, and CRC. It has not assented to ILO Convention 169. During its last Universal Periodic Review (UPR) (2013), Cambodia accepted a recommendation that it “increase measures to tackle illegal land evictions [of] Indigenous People, and consider fortifying the legislative framework consistently with international standards.” However, this has so far not led to actual remedy to the discrimination and land insecurity Indigenous Peoples continued to face to this day.
Main challenges for Indigenous Peoples in Cambodia
An Indigenous rights movement that began in the late 1990s continued to fight for their human rights; however, with deteriorating democratic freedoms and serious human rights violations, the ground on which the Indigenous rights movement exists has become more precarious. The repressive regime of Hun Sen and the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), which has ruled the country since 1985, has persisted on a path of corruption, human rights abuses and non-democratic rule. In 2020, the government continued to target the independent media, civic organizations, NGOs, individuals exercising their civil and political rights and the opposition, the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), which was banned in 2017.
Cambodia is home to 22 different Indigenous Peoples speaking at least 19 Indigenous languages.[i],[ii] With an estimated population of 170,000-400,000, they constitute approx. 1.1% of the national population. Disaggregated data on Indigenous Peoples generally vary considerably between surveys.[iii],[iv],[v] Numbers are likely to be ambiguous since government data classify Indigenous Peoples by language and not ethnicity.[vi] Furthermore, the contemporary stigmatization of Indigenous Peoples in Khmer society, as well as a legacy of fear left over from the devastating Khmer-Rouge regime, result in some Indigenous Peoples being unwilling to identify themselves to the authorities as Indigenous, for fear of repercussions.[vii]
Cambodia is home to 24 different Indigenous Peoples who speak at least 19 Indigenous languages.[1],[2] With an estimated population of 250,000 to 400,000, they make up approx. 3% of the national population. The Indigenous territories include the forested plateaux and highlands of north-eastern Cambodia, where the majority live in the provinces Ratanakiri, Mondulkiri, Kratie, Stung Treng, Kampong Thom, and Preah Vihear.
Cambodia is home to 24 different Indigenous Peoples, who speak mostly Mon-Khmer or Austronesian languages and constitute 1.4% of the national population, or around 400,000 individuals.1,2 The Indigenous territories include the forested plateaus and highlands of North-eastern Cambodia, approximately 25% of the national territory. While not disaggregated in the national census, other data confirms that Cambodian Indigenous Peoples continue to face discrimination and forced displacement from their lands, which is extinguishing them as distinct groups.3
Cambodia is home to 24 different Indigenous Peoples who speak at least 19 Indigenous languages.[1], [2] With an estimated population of 170,000 to 400,000, they constitute approx. 1.1 - 3% of the national population. Disaggregated data on Indigenous Peoples generally vary considerably between surveys.[3],[4],[5] Numbers are likely to be ambiguous since government data classify Indigenous Peoples by language and not ethnicity.[6] Furthermore, contemporary stigmatization of Indigenous Peoples in the Khmer society, as well as a legacy of fear of the devastating Khmer-Rouge regime, result in some Indigenous Peoples being unwilling to identify themselves to the authorities as Indigenous, for fear of repercussions.[7]
Cambodia is home to 24 different Indigenous Peoples, who speak mostly Mon-Khmer or Austronesian languages and constitute approx. 3% of the national population.[1] With an estimated population of 250,000 to 400,000, they are not clearly disaggregated in national census data.[2] The Indigenous territories include the forested plateaus and highlands of North-eastern Cambodia, approximately 25% of the national territory. Cambodia’s Indigenous Peoples continue to face discrimination and forced displacement from their lands, which is extinguishing them as distinct groups.[3] These patterns are driven by ongoing state and transnational corporate ventures for resource extraction (mainly mining, timber and agribusiness), coupled with growing in-migration from other parts of the country. Cambodia voted to adopt the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples without reservation in 2007, and has ratified the CERD, CEDAW and CRC but has still not ratified ILO Convention 169.[4]
Cambodia is home to 24 different indigenous peoples, who speak mostly Mon-Khmer or Austronesian languages, and constitute 2-3% of the national population, around 400,000 individuals.1
IWGIA - International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs - is a global human rights organisation dedicated to promoting and defending Indigenous Peoples’ rights. Read more.
